Operation modes for liquid crystal in a liquid crystal display device include modes in which a vertical electric field is used and in which a horizontal electric field is used. A vertical electric field is generated between a pair of substrates arranged on either side of a liquid crystal layer. A horizontal electric field is generated between electrodes on one substrate from among a pair of substrates arranged on either side of a liquid crystal layer. Examples of operation modes in which a vertical electric field is used are a twisted nematic (TN) mode and a vertical alignment (VA) mode. An example of an operation mode in which a horizontal electric field is used is an in-plane switching (IPS) mode.
Furthermore, liquid crystal display devices that use both a vertical electric field and a horizontal electric field to control the orientation of liquid crystal molecules have been proposed in recent years (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-354407).